FORT BENTON — Ali Manuel, a graduate student from University of Montana's Public Health master's degree program is taking on a project to help mitigate Fort Benton's mosquito populations by increasing bat habitats.
Ali earned her bachelors degree in biology with a concentration in zoology. She also worked as an animal research technician at the University of California, Berkeley. Additionally, she earned a Student Leaders in Public Health Award from the Rocky Mountain Public Health Training Center. $3,500 was included in that award, which will be put into her project.
The idea of the project stemmed from her project partner Kelly Engen, a Fort Benton native.
"He's the one who knew about the high levels of mosquitoes that Fort Benton has been experiencing," Ali said. "He had this idea about bats, and I have a background working with bats. I've worked with bats in a research setting for about a year, and I thought it was a really good idea, so I developed a public health framework around it. The idea came as a product from both of our backgrounds and our knowledge.
Engen works as a river guide for Missouri River Outfitters in Fort Benton during the summer season. He also teaches Lewis and Clark history out on the river.
"Lewis and Clark wrote about this hundreds of years ago," he said. "It was a problem when I was growing up, and it seems to be a problem today, so we're trying to install some environmental agents that could potentially swage this issue."
While insecticides are used during the late spring and early summer, it simply isn't enough to control the mosquito populations. Mosquitoes are known to carry the West Nile Virus, which has been detected in various counties throughout Montana, according to MT DPHHS.
The desired bat that Ali aims to use to mitigate mosquito populations is the the Little Brown Myotis, also known as the Little Brown Bat. This is the most common bat in Montana and one of the most common in the United States until recent years. Their wingspan is about 10 inches and they weigh about 6 grams.
Little Brown Bats eat a wide variety of insects, including pests such as mosquitoes, moths, and beetles.
Ali said, "We are choosing to highlight the Little Brown Bat because it is a microbat. It's less than a third of an ounce. I like to tell people it will fit in the palm of your hand, and because of their smaller size, they are more likely to eat small prey like mosquitoes. Also, studies have been done, most recently in Yellowstone Park, that they will live in man-made structures, so they just were the perfect bat to highlight and help predate on mosquitoes."
According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, there are 15 native bat species in Montana. The agricultural pest control service of bats in Montana is valued at $680 million dollars per year. Yet, bats everywhere are threatened by habitat loss, pesticide use, and a disease called white-nose syndrome that has killed 6 million bats in eastern states.
Ali's work began with a survey presented to Fort Benton residents regarding their understanding and thoughts on bats and mosquitoes. The anonymous survey is under IRB review. Ali said that she doesn't want to be an outside source. Rather, she wants to hear from the people of Fort Benton on what would make this a successful project.
On May 13th, a family-friendly event will take place at the Chouteau County Library where the public can build bat boxes, while learning more about bats and the various ways to reduce mosquito populations.
